The world’s greatest museum of art and design

Opening times

Mona Choo: International Print Resident (2009)

Mona Choo is a printmaker working in Singapore and London. She has had a diverse career, working for Singapore’s top advertising agency, establishing an Australian greetings card company, and staging successful group and solo shows of her artwork. Mona was the first International Printmaker in Residence at the V&A, between February and August 2009.

For those with a hair fetish, this one's for you. This lock of hair, which is housed in the National Arts Library for those of you who would like to come and see the real thing for yourself, was one of the objects that Avril tried to 'read'. She was not shown the handwritten note until after the reading. Hair with accompanying handwritten note. Close-up of hair. Avril was allowed to touch the hair with her fingers, ungloved. Here is what she had to say: – this is a man's hair. – he was much loved and revered by his …

Any unexplained phenomenon passes through three stages before the reality of it is accepted. During the first stage, it is considered laughable. During the second stage, it is adamantly opposed. Finally, during the third stage, it is accepted as self-evident. – Arthur Schopenhauer

This pack of cards (only four left) were one of the items read by Avril during the first psychic workshop we conducted. She had never seen or touched them before. Taking one of the cards in between her palms, here is what she said: – they are masculine cards. – there's a German influence. – I see a large door with a wooden table, and a large mirror hanging. – I feel like I can go under the building and into a tunnelled area leading into a kitchen or serving area, through to a dining room/sitting room. – there is …

Hair is fascinating stuff – it doesn't really rot so it keeps for a long time and it contains a certain amount of a person's DNA. I didn't know this, but during the Victorian ages, a lot of mourning jewellery was made that contained the hair of the deceased. Here's an example: Object: Hair-work Brooch and box Date: ca. 1842 Techniques: Brooch – human hair and gold / Box – card and engraving Artist: Forrer, A. Location: England "Death was highly visible in Victorian culture. It was a time for communal feeling, studied response and ritual, with people encouraged to …

This was one of the objects that I'd had my eye on, early in the residency, for the psychic workshop. Unfortunately, it's an item that's on display and therefore couldn't be used for obvious reasons. However, it doesn't detract from the fact that it would've been interesting to see what Avril, the psychic with whom I'm working, could've read from it. Here are the quick details: Object: Kaftan Date: 1590 Techniques: Woven silk, weft made by silk and gilt metal thread, silk warp; lampas weave with satin ground and weft-faced twill pattern. "Kaftans like this one were worn by Ottoman …

With just over a month left to go before the residency ends and I head back to Hong Kong, I thought I’d drop in some of the things that have inspired me, expanded my thinking, or that I simply find interesting. From now on, you may just get snippets from me, since I’m trying to juggle all sorts of things, from workshops to moving (out of the studio that is) to more reading to conceptualising to designing (my collaboration with Lilia which I’ll have to elaborate on later….). Anyway, one of the topics I’ve been reading on and researching is …

I would be grateful if any of you would answer this simple question, in your own way. You can remain anonymous – it's more the result I'm after. If an object can absorb information about you, what object would you choose to leave behind so that people in the future can 'read' your story? Would it be your wedding ring? Your teddy that you've had since you were 6? Your Mum's gold locket? Your Dad's spectacles? Your belt? I would love to know. The results will become part of my finished project in some way. Thank you in advance.

One of the great perks of this residency is coming into contact with the curators. They offer a wealth of expertise and knowledge that I couldn’t acquire in a lifetime. And the best part about the curators is the objects they have access to, physically and informationally. Whilst preparing for my psychic workshop, I’ve had to rely on the curators to supply me with a list of objects under their care that answer my brief. One of the difficulties, and hence a limiting factor, in choosing the objects is that the psychic should ideally be able to touch the objects, …

25 May 2009 I thought it sad when, this morning as I marched robotically alongside my fellow commuters to my required tube platform and the voice over the tannoy announced that some train lines were temporarily out of service due to a person under a train, my first thought, far from being any emotion or concern for the person, was to hope that it wasn’t the line that I needed. I knew I wasn’t alone in thinking these thoughts, yet I didn’t feel comforted by this. At what point do we become so detached/disassociated/disconnected from each other? Or have we …